In what way? Originally Posted by HedonistForeverIn a sneaky snake oil salesman sorta way.
- WTF
- 10-27-2022, 03:23 PM
- winn dixie
- 10-27-2022, 03:31 PM
- lustylad
- 10-27-2022, 05:05 PM
John Fetterman: The Midterms’ October Surprise
By withholding crucial information about his health, the candidate has likely ensured a GOP Senate win in Pennsylvania.
By Daniel Henninger
Oct. 26, 2022 6:19 pm ET
The 2022 midterm election just got its October surprise: John Fetterman.
Mr. Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, suffered a stroke in May days before he won the Democratic Senate primary, and a question since has been whether his recovery was sufficient to eliminate the stroke’s effects as a voter concern.
The answer on display Tuesday evening is that Mr. Fetterman’s recovery is so poor that it’s now likely to be the primary factor in the outcome of this race.
No one watching this debate could have been unmoved by Mr. Fetterman’s struggle to articulate his views. GOP nominee Mehmet Oz, to his credit, made virtually no reference to the problem. The moderators raised the issue of “fitness to serve,” asking why Mr. Fetterman hadn’t released his medical records. He replied that “my doctor thinks I’m fit to serve.”
After Mr. Fetterman in early summer withdrew for months from campaigning, some Pennsylvania Democrats pressed him on the question of whether he should step aside and let an alternative candidate step in, such as Rep. Conor Lamb. Mr. Fetterman insisted he was up to completing a Senate campaign.
He went into this debate in a virtual polling tie with Mr. Oz. The debate ended with Mr. Oz delivering a strong, comprehensive closing statement, which heightened the hour-long contrast with Mr. Fetterman’s difficult performance. It’s now likely the Republicans will hold the Pennsylvania seat and win control of the Senate. Withholding crucial information from voters is a time bomb. This one detonated.
One thing the debate made starkly clear is the awful consequences of super-early voting laws. More than a half million people in Pennsylvania have voted already. Second thoughts? Forget it.
Pennsylvania was one of two significant debates Tuesday. The other was between New York state’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin. Notwithstanding Mr. Fetterman’s personal challenges, both were valuable political events.
Sitting through the two 60-minute debates (and in truth, an hour is just about enough), I think any viewer would have seen that an array of substantive policy distinctions exists between these two parties.
For the past two years, Democrats and pundits have tried to tee up the Republicans as the “party of Trump,” with President Biden using his office to ridicule the “MAGA Republicans.” The idea has been that any thinking voter should stop thinking about voting for Republicans because their politics starts and ends with something called “Trump.”
These two debates showed that isn’t true. Mr. Zeldin gave an intriguing answer when Mrs. Hochul demanded—“yes or no”—if he thought Mr. Trump was “a great president.”
Mr. Zeldin’s answer was that he had worked with Mr. Trump to fight the MS-13 Salvadoran gang on Long Island, move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, push the Mideast Abraham Accords, thwart the Iran nuclear deal and fight the Covid pandemic. Gov. Hochul replied lamely, “I take that as a resounding yes.” But which of those five Trump administration policies does she disagree with? Viewers were left to guess.
Inflation is the election’s No. 1 issue, but it interestingly didn’t dominate either debate. Both Messrs. Oz and Zeldin pressed the issue of crime, but the sleeper economic issue turned out to be fracking.
For progressives, fracking for natural gas is by now an act of pure environmental evil. Mr. Oz returned repeatedly to support for fracking, including building pipelines and a refinery in Philadelphia to ship liquefied natural gas to Europe.
Mr. Fetterman’s worst moment may have been his attempt to become a pro-fracker despite clear evidence he has opposed it in the past. “I do support fracking,” he said. “I support fracking, and I stand, and I do support fracking.”
Mr. Zeldin cited the economic boost that the “extraction of natural gas”—long banned by Gov. Andrew Cuomo—would give the state’s Southern Tier, near Pennsylvania.
On crime, Mr. Zeldin constantly asked Gov. Hochul why she won’t talk about locking up criminals. An exasperated Gov. Hochul finally said, “I don’t know why that is so important to you.” Expect to see that soon in a Zeldin TV commercial.
Crime gives Mr. Zeldin a shot at winning in a blue state. To do that, he needs a strong majority of independents and support from moderate-to-conservative Democrats.
Gov. Hochul can’t win without solid turnout by New York City’s Democrats. Since succeeding Mr. Cuomo, she has done or said nothing that might alienate the city’s condominium progressives.
Her routine equivocation in the debate—“I’m working on it”—let Mr. Zeldin appear to be on offense throughout. But Gov. Hochul’s protective blandness doesn’t give progressives much incentive to turn out. Indeed, progressive politics is looking more than ever like a liability if one has to run in a close election. Ask Stacey Abrams.
A final thought. The Democrats’ decision to load up so much of this election on “Trump” has been a mistake. Voters are looking forward. Mr. Trump’s greatest contribution to the Republican Party could lie in doing just enough to keep the Democrats’ bulls charging toward his cape unto exhaustion, while Republican candidates go about winning on their own merits.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/midterm...e-11666814874?
By withholding crucial information about his health, the candidate has likely ensured a GOP Senate win in Pennsylvania.
By Daniel Henninger
Oct. 26, 2022 6:19 pm ET
The 2022 midterm election just got its October surprise: John Fetterman.
Mr. Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, suffered a stroke in May days before he won the Democratic Senate primary, and a question since has been whether his recovery was sufficient to eliminate the stroke’s effects as a voter concern.
The answer on display Tuesday evening is that Mr. Fetterman’s recovery is so poor that it’s now likely to be the primary factor in the outcome of this race.
No one watching this debate could have been unmoved by Mr. Fetterman’s struggle to articulate his views. GOP nominee Mehmet Oz, to his credit, made virtually no reference to the problem. The moderators raised the issue of “fitness to serve,” asking why Mr. Fetterman hadn’t released his medical records. He replied that “my doctor thinks I’m fit to serve.”
After Mr. Fetterman in early summer withdrew for months from campaigning, some Pennsylvania Democrats pressed him on the question of whether he should step aside and let an alternative candidate step in, such as Rep. Conor Lamb. Mr. Fetterman insisted he was up to completing a Senate campaign.
He went into this debate in a virtual polling tie with Mr. Oz. The debate ended with Mr. Oz delivering a strong, comprehensive closing statement, which heightened the hour-long contrast with Mr. Fetterman’s difficult performance. It’s now likely the Republicans will hold the Pennsylvania seat and win control of the Senate. Withholding crucial information from voters is a time bomb. This one detonated.
One thing the debate made starkly clear is the awful consequences of super-early voting laws. More than a half million people in Pennsylvania have voted already. Second thoughts? Forget it.
Pennsylvania was one of two significant debates Tuesday. The other was between New York state’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul and GOP Rep. Lee Zeldin. Notwithstanding Mr. Fetterman’s personal challenges, both were valuable political events.
Sitting through the two 60-minute debates (and in truth, an hour is just about enough), I think any viewer would have seen that an array of substantive policy distinctions exists between these two parties.
For the past two years, Democrats and pundits have tried to tee up the Republicans as the “party of Trump,” with President Biden using his office to ridicule the “MAGA Republicans.” The idea has been that any thinking voter should stop thinking about voting for Republicans because their politics starts and ends with something called “Trump.”
These two debates showed that isn’t true. Mr. Zeldin gave an intriguing answer when Mrs. Hochul demanded—“yes or no”—if he thought Mr. Trump was “a great president.”
Mr. Zeldin’s answer was that he had worked with Mr. Trump to fight the MS-13 Salvadoran gang on Long Island, move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, push the Mideast Abraham Accords, thwart the Iran nuclear deal and fight the Covid pandemic. Gov. Hochul replied lamely, “I take that as a resounding yes.” But which of those five Trump administration policies does she disagree with? Viewers were left to guess.
Inflation is the election’s No. 1 issue, but it interestingly didn’t dominate either debate. Both Messrs. Oz and Zeldin pressed the issue of crime, but the sleeper economic issue turned out to be fracking.
For progressives, fracking for natural gas is by now an act of pure environmental evil. Mr. Oz returned repeatedly to support for fracking, including building pipelines and a refinery in Philadelphia to ship liquefied natural gas to Europe.
Mr. Fetterman’s worst moment may have been his attempt to become a pro-fracker despite clear evidence he has opposed it in the past. “I do support fracking,” he said. “I support fracking, and I stand, and I do support fracking.”
Mr. Zeldin cited the economic boost that the “extraction of natural gas”—long banned by Gov. Andrew Cuomo—would give the state’s Southern Tier, near Pennsylvania.
On crime, Mr. Zeldin constantly asked Gov. Hochul why she won’t talk about locking up criminals. An exasperated Gov. Hochul finally said, “I don’t know why that is so important to you.” Expect to see that soon in a Zeldin TV commercial.
Crime gives Mr. Zeldin a shot at winning in a blue state. To do that, he needs a strong majority of independents and support from moderate-to-conservative Democrats.
Gov. Hochul can’t win without solid turnout by New York City’s Democrats. Since succeeding Mr. Cuomo, she has done or said nothing that might alienate the city’s condominium progressives.
Her routine equivocation in the debate—“I’m working on it”—let Mr. Zeldin appear to be on offense throughout. But Gov. Hochul’s protective blandness doesn’t give progressives much incentive to turn out. Indeed, progressive politics is looking more than ever like a liability if one has to run in a close election. Ask Stacey Abrams.
A final thought. The Democrats’ decision to load up so much of this election on “Trump” has been a mistake. Voters are looking forward. Mr. Trump’s greatest contribution to the Republican Party could lie in doing just enough to keep the Democrats’ bulls charging toward his cape unto exhaustion, while Republican candidates go about winning on their own merits.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/midterm...e-11666814874?
- lustylad
- 10-27-2022, 05:19 PM
The painful story of how John Fetterman arrived at Tuesday night's humiliation
by Salena Zito, National Political Reporter
October 27, 2022 09:57 AM
EXPORT, Pennsylvania — For the first time in this election cycle, most of the people sitting around the restaurant bar casually watching the debate saw the depth of the effects of the stroke Lt. Gov. John Fetterman suffered in May when he began the debate Tuesday evening with a “good night” as his opening greeting.
It only got worse from there.
For 60 painful minutes, the York native and Harvard graduate, who had made his home in Western Pennsylvania for the last 20 years, struggled vividly with cognitive issues in handling the simplest of questions tossed his way during the debate.
Most of the voters watching had surely seen him speak at small rallies, where he struggled but on the surface seemed OK. But only now were they fully realizing that he was just repeating memorized lines and could not actually comprehend when others tried to converse with him.
Many of those watching had no idea how bad Fetterman's health was, causing disbelief that no one had reported this sooner. And many were angry that Democrats and reporters knew all about it and said nothing.
The one reporter who did mention Fetterman's inability to converse — NBC news reporter Dasha Burns — was viciously attacked for her dispassionate reporting, not just from Fetterman's campaign and supporters but also by blue-check journalists on Twitter and her own NBC News colleague Savannah Guthrie.
Unfortunately, the accurate story about Fetterman instead became a false story about Burns and even an attempt to destroy her career. This included a veiled threat from Fetterman's wife, who used her large platform to demand an apology from Burns while threatening consequences for her reporting. One has to wonder what those consequences could have been.
And so the truth about John Fetterman's cognitive abilities remained buried, a secret, but a secret well-known to journalists with personal access to him since late July and to those who have observed him failing to comprehend anything his supporters say to him on the rope line.
They said and wrote nothing. The question is, why? Were they afraid they would receive the vicious cancel treatment and threats that Burns got? Were they afraid they would hurt the political team they were not-so-secretly rooting for? Either reason is a stain on the journalistic profession — those culpable should really never again mock anyone who questions the honesty of the press.
The same goes for Democrats. Sen. Bob Casey, for example, his state party’s elder statesman, has paraded on the stage with Fetterman for weeks now, knowing full well how ill he is. After the debate, he had the audacity to go on national television and say with a straight face, "I think John Fetterman did really well."
In the minutes and hours after the debate, Twitter's reaction was very different from the voters' reaction in the state. Blue-check journalists, pundits, and Democrats were doing some serious contortions to tweet that there was nothing to see there — Fetterman was fine, and Republicans are bad. The Philadelphia Inquirer even credited Fetterman with winning the debate.
Many of these same people have previously described Trump supporters as being part of a cult. But nothing is more cultish than to proclaim that nothing is wrong when clearly everything is wrong.
As one Philly voter said in an interview after watching the debate and then seeing the “Inky” calling the debate in Fetterman’s favor, “The Inky knows that Fetterman needs Philly to turn out in massive numbers to win," he said. "And they know if they tell the truth to the voters that they would likely arrive at the same conclusion as most folks who watched that debate — and that is, Fetterman needs to get himself healthy and try again next time."
The 41-year-old centrist Republican, who never once voted for Trump, said bluntly, “Philadelphians aren’t dumb, and their newspaper should know that; so they hide the truth from those who read the paper and missed the debate. This is exhibit A in why the public holds the media in low regard.”
The way this race has been covered from the beginning by reporters has been shameful — not just because of his stroke, but also because of the false narrative of Fetterman’s accomplishments in Braddock. Fetterman’s failure to show up at that job and at his current job started long before he had a stroke. There has been minimal scrutiny about what would, under other circumstances, be considered disqualifying — his holding a man at gunpoint for jogging while black and not apologizing for it — an incident that had long-term effects on Fetterman's victim.
Fetterman still won't release his medical records. For those wondering, the records need to come from a cardiologist, not in the form of a vague letter from a doctor who is one of his donors. Fetterman has a very serious heart condition that caused his stroke, which by his own admission went unattended for five years. The public also deserves records from a neurologist.
No one will know who wins this race until Nov. 8 —knowing my state, it might be Dec. 8 — however, whoever does win, there needs to be a serious forensic autopsy of how a confederacy of activism and omission placed the Democratic Party in this position, and why.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/o...ys-humiliation
by Salena Zito, National Political Reporter
October 27, 2022 09:57 AM
EXPORT, Pennsylvania — For the first time in this election cycle, most of the people sitting around the restaurant bar casually watching the debate saw the depth of the effects of the stroke Lt. Gov. John Fetterman suffered in May when he began the debate Tuesday evening with a “good night” as his opening greeting.
It only got worse from there.
For 60 painful minutes, the York native and Harvard graduate, who had made his home in Western Pennsylvania for the last 20 years, struggled vividly with cognitive issues in handling the simplest of questions tossed his way during the debate.
Most of the voters watching had surely seen him speak at small rallies, where he struggled but on the surface seemed OK. But only now were they fully realizing that he was just repeating memorized lines and could not actually comprehend when others tried to converse with him.
Many of those watching had no idea how bad Fetterman's health was, causing disbelief that no one had reported this sooner. And many were angry that Democrats and reporters knew all about it and said nothing.
The one reporter who did mention Fetterman's inability to converse — NBC news reporter Dasha Burns — was viciously attacked for her dispassionate reporting, not just from Fetterman's campaign and supporters but also by blue-check journalists on Twitter and her own NBC News colleague Savannah Guthrie.
Unfortunately, the accurate story about Fetterman instead became a false story about Burns and even an attempt to destroy her career. This included a veiled threat from Fetterman's wife, who used her large platform to demand an apology from Burns while threatening consequences for her reporting. One has to wonder what those consequences could have been.
And so the truth about John Fetterman's cognitive abilities remained buried, a secret, but a secret well-known to journalists with personal access to him since late July and to those who have observed him failing to comprehend anything his supporters say to him on the rope line.
They said and wrote nothing. The question is, why? Were they afraid they would receive the vicious cancel treatment and threats that Burns got? Were they afraid they would hurt the political team they were not-so-secretly rooting for? Either reason is a stain on the journalistic profession — those culpable should really never again mock anyone who questions the honesty of the press.
The same goes for Democrats. Sen. Bob Casey, for example, his state party’s elder statesman, has paraded on the stage with Fetterman for weeks now, knowing full well how ill he is. After the debate, he had the audacity to go on national television and say with a straight face, "I think John Fetterman did really well."
In the minutes and hours after the debate, Twitter's reaction was very different from the voters' reaction in the state. Blue-check journalists, pundits, and Democrats were doing some serious contortions to tweet that there was nothing to see there — Fetterman was fine, and Republicans are bad. The Philadelphia Inquirer even credited Fetterman with winning the debate.
Many of these same people have previously described Trump supporters as being part of a cult. But nothing is more cultish than to proclaim that nothing is wrong when clearly everything is wrong.
As one Philly voter said in an interview after watching the debate and then seeing the “Inky” calling the debate in Fetterman’s favor, “The Inky knows that Fetterman needs Philly to turn out in massive numbers to win," he said. "And they know if they tell the truth to the voters that they would likely arrive at the same conclusion as most folks who watched that debate — and that is, Fetterman needs to get himself healthy and try again next time."
The 41-year-old centrist Republican, who never once voted for Trump, said bluntly, “Philadelphians aren’t dumb, and their newspaper should know that; so they hide the truth from those who read the paper and missed the debate. This is exhibit A in why the public holds the media in low regard.”
The way this race has been covered from the beginning by reporters has been shameful — not just because of his stroke, but also because of the false narrative of Fetterman’s accomplishments in Braddock. Fetterman’s failure to show up at that job and at his current job started long before he had a stroke. There has been minimal scrutiny about what would, under other circumstances, be considered disqualifying — his holding a man at gunpoint for jogging while black and not apologizing for it — an incident that had long-term effects on Fetterman's victim.
Fetterman still won't release his medical records. For those wondering, the records need to come from a cardiologist, not in the form of a vague letter from a doctor who is one of his donors. Fetterman has a very serious heart condition that caused his stroke, which by his own admission went unattended for five years. The public also deserves records from a neurologist.
No one will know who wins this race until Nov. 8 —knowing my state, it might be Dec. 8 — however, whoever does win, there needs to be a serious forensic autopsy of how a confederacy of activism and omission placed the Democratic Party in this position, and why.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/o...ys-humiliation
- HedonistForever
- 10-27-2022, 08:24 PM
Some polling coming out after the debate has Oz now ahead of Fetterman. Can't believe it could be otherwise after that debate. Did you hear Chuck ( you ) Shumer trying to sugar coat the results of the debate to Joe Biden? "It wasn't a complete disaster Mr. President". Wow! Stunning endorsement and you should hear the quotes coming out of MSNBC!!! You would think Fetterman just won an "orator of the year award".
Even the MSM outside of MSNBC, who have completely lost all objectivity, see the hand writing on the wall. There simply isn't enough time for the Democrats to change their record like Fetterman did on fracking and have the people believe him.
"Uh, I'm for fracking and Uh, I support fracking and I Uh, stand by fracking", from the guy who was swearing a month ago, that he was totally against fracking but the polling came out and he was told to reverse his position. Pitiful.
Even the MSM outside of MSNBC, who have completely lost all objectivity, see the hand writing on the wall. There simply isn't enough time for the Democrats to change their record like Fetterman did on fracking and have the people believe him.
"Uh, I'm for fracking and Uh, I support fracking and I Uh, stand by fracking", from the guy who was swearing a month ago, that he was totally against fracking but the polling came out and he was told to reverse his position. Pitiful.
- winn dixie
- 10-27-2022, 10:07 PM
oz is a shithead